So You Ate Like Crap, Get Over It

When I talk about fitness and dieting, I often refer to falling and getting back up again. Maybe it’s because I’m a clutz and relate to falling, or maybe it’s just because falling is a part of life.

We’re human and it’s inevitable that we will mess up – and there is no truer example than with diet and fitness. However, I don’t think it’s all about just preventing the failure, I think the most important action is what we do after we fail.

Damage Control

I think it’s healthy to allow ourselves to cheat occasionally. It’s almost like planning a controlled fall. Stunt men do it all the time. They learn how to fall without getting hurt. We all know eating certain foods aren’t healthy, but we “allow” ourselves to have them. But, if we don’t plan it carefully, and practice safety measures, we can find ourselves in big trouble quick.

While some people planned their Thanksgiving cheat meals out carefully, there are others that just threw out all the rules, and dove face first into every dish that came their way. Whether we convinced ourselves that “we deserved it” or acted like we really didn’t care, eventually our bad choices catch up to us. The feeling of disappointment and guilt might hit us as soon as we finish the last bite, or it might take days of repetitive bad behavior to finally get us to the point of being sick of how those bad choices make us look and feel. However long it takes us to reach that point, when we finally get to that point, it’s time for damage control.

It’s time for you (and the scale) to face the facts.

Some people are quick to jump back on the scale and boldy face reality. One thing I can guarantee is this: You WILL eventually deal with all this. You can deal with it now or later – the choice is yours.

3 Post Holiday Scenarios: Which One Will You Choose?

1. Stay Knocked Down. This is what most people do after a Holiday – especially when there is another excuse (like another Holiday) right around the corner. They decide it’s going to be impossible to fight, too hard to manage, not enough time, no fun, or not worth the effort. So, they just give up and pretend they can continue through the Holidays without repercussions. The problem with this is, if you do this often enough, it becomes a pattern. Weight continues to creep up on you – and before you know it, you are in way over your head, and you may be tempted to quit for good.

2. Get Back Up – slowly. This person waits for the ref to count all the way to 9 before they get back up again. They are procrastinator, slow learners and naturally lazy (like me – yes ME!). Sometimes it takes a friend (or dog!) to drag them back to the gym. But, most of the time, this person will try everything under the sun before doing what they know they need to do. They’ll cut everything out they don’t mind forfeiting and try making “their way” work by finagling diets and fitness around their lifestyle. Then they will complain when they fail. They will justify their actions, make a million excuses, and, finally, at the very last minute (when they just can’t take it any longer), they will stand back up and get back to what they know works.

3. Bounce Back Fast – The person who is fast to recover and quickly gets back on their feet, accepts what has to be done and doesn’t waste any valuable time. They get right back on their diet, and get right back in the gym – as fast as they possibly can. They may dread it, they may not want to do it, but they do it anyway because they’ve either learned the hard way or they hate feeling fat and unhealthy more than they hate the work it takes to stay fit. They could easily wallow in their sorrows and beat themselves up while their down, but they don’t. The get over it. They move on. They get back up on their own two feet – and fight it back out.

So, you ate like crap – get over it, it’s time to get back up!

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I’d love to get to the point where exercise is something that I want to do v have to talk myself into doing. At one point I thought I would have to accept that I would always have to talk myself into it but this year I started to see signs that maybe in the future I might turn into someone who loves it and wants to do it every day.
A change I’ve noticed in myself this year is in my bounce back time. Like many others I have fallen off plan a number of times but I’m checking myself much quicker now. For too long I let the eat bad, no exercise periods last for 6 months at a time and as a result over 4 years I went from 10 – 12 stone. Next year I’m going to “Bounce Back Fast”

So good to hear – and you’ll get better and better at …and smarter and smarter!! Keep up the good work! Can’t wait to see where you are in a year from now!! At this rate, you’ll on be better and better!

Great blog! One of the keys to my success in maintaining my 90+ pound weight loss has been continually minimizing the amount of time it takes me to get back on track after I slip. I’ve got it down to almost immediately these days and don’t even consider my splurges slips any more–they’re planned treats and are worked into my meal plan for the week. My real slips are few and far between these days.

I didn’t really eat that bad myself. We ate mostly grilled veggies and clean meats the whole time BUT we did do pizza one night (totally a special treat for us) and we snacked ourselves to death at night (which I haven’t allowed myself to do). It was fun while it lasted but I’m DONE! Back to life – and back to feeling good 🙂

I’ve noticed myself to bounce back fast. I love food, the taste of food but I also LOVE to workout… So when I do give in to food for a birthday party or holiday or anniversary I will be back in the gym that evening or the next morning. I usually don’t beat myself up about it because I enjoyed food that I had missed and I know I will get back in my mood to workout. It may take me 3 days to work off a days work of food but I don’t want to deprive myself from some of my favorite foods or a celebration for a friend.